Eastern High School sophomore baserunner Pryce Murphy watches the pitch from just off first base and senior Caleb Jimison does the same at second base during action Tuesday, April 11 at West Union High School.
Eastern Brown High School starting pitcher Wyatt Haupt allowed no hits and struck out six in just two innings Tuesday, April 11 at West Union High School.
Eastern Brown High School junior Wyatt Haupt dives safely into home plate Tuesday, April 11 against West Union High School at West Union. Haupt led the way for the Warriors, going 4-for-5 with two doubles, two triples, four runs scored and five RBI.
Knocking the cover off the ball.
Turns out, that’s how the Eastern Brown High School baseball team knocks off the rust.
After going nearly a week without playing a game in the heart of the state high school baseball season, the Warriors got back in the swing of things in a big way Tuesday, April 11, collecting 19 hits and scoring 27 runs in a game shortened to five innings.
The 27-0 victory over Southern Hills Athletic Conference Division I foe West Union High School at the West Union field was an offensive show, of course. But it might have been just as important for the team’s pitching staff, too.
“Today (Tuesday) was a good game,” Warriors coach Steve Goetz said. “We have not played in almost a week, so I was able to get my three top pitchers some work to stay sharp for later this week. Also, I was able to get some younger guys some varsity experience.”
That all seemed to pay off later in the week as the Warriors rolled to victories over Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington (15-1, Thursday, April 13), Lynchburg-Clay (11-5, Friday, April 14) and Miami Trace (8-3, Saturday, April 15). After that 4-0 week, the Warriors are in second place in SHAC Division I at 5-1 – a game behind undefeated Fairfield (6-0) – and are 6-1 overall.
On Tuesday, junior Wyatt Haupt had a career-type game, going 4-for-5 with two doubles, two triples, five RBI and four runs scored. Also for the Warriors, junior Wylee Sawyers was 3-for-3 with three RBI and scored a run, senior Brandon Bailey was 2-for-2 with three RBI and three runs scored, and junior Cater Vaughn also had three RBI and three runs scored. Sophomore Pryce Murphy added two RBI, along with four runs scored, and six other players each knocked in a run.
On the mound, three pitchers combined on a two-hit shutout, with 14 strikeouts and no walks. Haupt started and pitched two hitless innings, with six strikeouts. Murphy also pitched two innings, allowing one hit and striking out five, and Vaughn pitched the final inning, allowing a hit and striking out three.